Childhood: Clinical and School Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
History of abnormal development
The disease-model said that mental illness had a biological basis. Advantage: people
tried to find a cure. Downside: some people feared that diseases could be transmitted
and many children were placed in institutes.
Witmer established the first psychiatric clinic to treat kids with learning disabilities. In
1909 Healey opened the first child guidance clinic as emphasis shifted from
delinquency to problems evident at home + school and parent-child di5iculties
In 1948 there was a shift from identification to training + treatment, but abnormal
behaviour continued to be interpreted from the point of view of the adult and were
treated with adult methods
Current view: because normal and abnormal behaviours stem from the same
developmental principles and are part of the same continuum, increased emphasis is
now placed on knowledge of stages and underlying processes of development.
Humans are seen as holistic (interactive + dynamic) and hierarchical (moving towards
increasing complexity). Increasing emphasis is placed on determining protective
factors (inhibit) and risks (escalate)
Deciding what is abnormal behaviour
Typical problems in developmental phases:
1. The behavior must be judged on intensity, frequency, duration (also the 5th D)
and pervasiveness (it happens in more contexts)
2. Then the 4 D's can be used to decide whether behaviour falls outside the range of
normal behaviour
a. Deviance: deviance from norm for that specific age
b. Dysfunction: impact on functioning
c. Distress
d. Danger: is the behaviour placing the child or others at risk for harm?
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, Childhood: Clinical and School Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
Multimodal/multimethod: variety of informants (parents, teachers, child, peers) and
procedures (interviews, questionnaires, standardized tests)
Child characteristics (biological and genetic) + environmental characteristics (family,
peers, school, neighbourhood) need to be taken into account.
Bias of assessors:
1. Research has demonstrated that clinicians’ judgments can reflect underlying
personal biases toward areas such as gender, SES, race, and age.
2. A concern regarding the use of rating scales is that the reliability of the behavioral
observation depends on the rater’s perception, which in turn can be influenced
by numerous extraneous variables (e.g. mood, recent history, stress, work-
context)
There have been concerns about the negative impact that certain labels might have.
Also, labels can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Internalizing and externalizing behaviour:
a. Children with externalizing problems are referred more often than children with
internalizing problems.
b. Children with externalizing problems have been found to score significantly lower
than internalizers on measures of intelligence, academics, and social
acceptance.
c. Recent research has noted that children can and do demonstrate co-occurring
externalizing and internalizing behaviors.
It is suggested that a full description of a child’s mental health status should contain not
only the dichotomous measure of whether a child meets the diagnostic criteria, but also
information regarding dimensional status.
Kronenberger and Meyer present a framework for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment
that revolves around three questions that must be answered by the child clinician,
regardless of the presenting problem:
1. What are the characteristics of the child’s problem?
2. How should the clinician conduct an in-depth evaluation of the problem?
3. What are the appropriate intervention strategies?
Two main systems are currently used for classifying child and adolescent disorders or
problem behaviors:
1. The categorical classification system: relies on structured and semi structured
interview schedules to obtain information regarding potential diagnoses
2. The empirical or dimensional classification system: assesses behaviors through
the use of behavior rating scales or problem checklists.
2/50
History of abnormal development
The disease-model said that mental illness had a biological basis. Advantage: people
tried to find a cure. Downside: some people feared that diseases could be transmitted
and many children were placed in institutes.
Witmer established the first psychiatric clinic to treat kids with learning disabilities. In
1909 Healey opened the first child guidance clinic as emphasis shifted from
delinquency to problems evident at home + school and parent-child di5iculties
In 1948 there was a shift from identification to training + treatment, but abnormal
behaviour continued to be interpreted from the point of view of the adult and were
treated with adult methods
Current view: because normal and abnormal behaviours stem from the same
developmental principles and are part of the same continuum, increased emphasis is
now placed on knowledge of stages and underlying processes of development.
Humans are seen as holistic (interactive + dynamic) and hierarchical (moving towards
increasing complexity). Increasing emphasis is placed on determining protective
factors (inhibit) and risks (escalate)
Deciding what is abnormal behaviour
Typical problems in developmental phases:
1. The behavior must be judged on intensity, frequency, duration (also the 5th D)
and pervasiveness (it happens in more contexts)
2. Then the 4 D's can be used to decide whether behaviour falls outside the range of
normal behaviour
a. Deviance: deviance from norm for that specific age
b. Dysfunction: impact on functioning
c. Distress
d. Danger: is the behaviour placing the child or others at risk for harm?
1/50
, Childhood: Clinical and School Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
Multimodal/multimethod: variety of informants (parents, teachers, child, peers) and
procedures (interviews, questionnaires, standardized tests)
Child characteristics (biological and genetic) + environmental characteristics (family,
peers, school, neighbourhood) need to be taken into account.
Bias of assessors:
1. Research has demonstrated that clinicians’ judgments can reflect underlying
personal biases toward areas such as gender, SES, race, and age.
2. A concern regarding the use of rating scales is that the reliability of the behavioral
observation depends on the rater’s perception, which in turn can be influenced
by numerous extraneous variables (e.g. mood, recent history, stress, work-
context)
There have been concerns about the negative impact that certain labels might have.
Also, labels can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Internalizing and externalizing behaviour:
a. Children with externalizing problems are referred more often than children with
internalizing problems.
b. Children with externalizing problems have been found to score significantly lower
than internalizers on measures of intelligence, academics, and social
acceptance.
c. Recent research has noted that children can and do demonstrate co-occurring
externalizing and internalizing behaviors.
It is suggested that a full description of a child’s mental health status should contain not
only the dichotomous measure of whether a child meets the diagnostic criteria, but also
information regarding dimensional status.
Kronenberger and Meyer present a framework for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment
that revolves around three questions that must be answered by the child clinician,
regardless of the presenting problem:
1. What are the characteristics of the child’s problem?
2. How should the clinician conduct an in-depth evaluation of the problem?
3. What are the appropriate intervention strategies?
Two main systems are currently used for classifying child and adolescent disorders or
problem behaviors:
1. The categorical classification system: relies on structured and semi structured
interview schedules to obtain information regarding potential diagnoses
2. The empirical or dimensional classification system: assesses behaviors through
the use of behavior rating scales or problem checklists.
2/50
